communicate :: collaborate :: commemorate

Today we’re starting to roll out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to Nexus users. Of course, the new Nexus 5X and 6P will ship with Android 6.0, straight from the factory. Android Marshmallow is the sweetest, smartest Android version yet: Now on Tap serves up assistance when you need it, battery-smart features keep your device going longer, and new app permissions give you even more control.

My Yoga Tab 2 Pro is still on 4.4.2 and Lenovo says it is the current version.

Comments

Just received Marshmallow on my Nexus 5 last night. A few days delay, yes, but still reasonable time I would say.

I think the Android portfolio is two-fold. There's the Nexus line of products with pure Android where the updates are made available fairly quickly after the new version is released by Google. But you are limited in choice to whatever Google and the respective design partner decided is good for you. This is very similar to the Apple world, but Google by far doesn't manage it as well as Apple does.

Then there is the broad variety of Android devices by other manufacturers, like Samsung, Sony, HTC, Lenovo, etc. They differentiate on hardware features and customized Android software bundles. It seems there are a sufficient number of customers looking for that. In my experience, there still are many people who see their smartphone as a show-off unit and look for the largest screen, the most megapixel in the camera, the coolest look in colors and shape, what have you. They care less about the software version (even though they probably shouldn't). This breadth of choice is not avaiable from Apple, but there are people who run after the newest model iPhone as soon as it is announced for the new device features - but they still have to take what Apple decided is good for them (within limited variety Apple offers nowadays, Plus or not).

I wish Google would manage their Nexus line of devices more seriously as an equal contributor to Android's competitive versus Apple/iOS. Of course that may have a side-effect on the second part, but I am actually not sure that would be too big. See the last sentence in the paragraph before... But overall, I think that would make Android more competitive. And competition is usually a good thing.